All the pre-season work was done, indoors and outdoors, and the temperatures finally were warming up. It was time for the Baldwinsville baseball team to start again. The Bees’ much-anticipated defense of its Section III Class AA title began, on the local side, with Saturday’s visit to Syracuse East, where its bats would come to life in the latter stages, turning a close game into a 12-1 romp. B’ville didn’t waste too much time, grabbing a 4-0 lead by scoring runs in each of the first three innings, including two in the second. That was all of the support pitcher Scott Blewett would need. During a five-inning stint, Blewett gave up four hits, but didn’t walk a Syracuse East batter and struck out eight before Colin Conklin and Pat Merryweather took over, each of them getting an inning of relief work. They could do so because the Bees, who went quiet in the middle stages, exploded for four runs in the fifth and sixth innings to put the game away. Josh Demoski had three of B’ville’s 12 hits and scored twice. Conklin and Gabe Levanti each drove in two runs, while Zach Leo doubled and scored three runs. Demoski, Brett Delola and Gage Blasi earned one RBI apiece, with Blewett tacking on a double. B’ville is set to have its first home games of the season this week, greeting Oswego and Central Square, with a visit to Syracuse West in between – all of it depending on the weather staying dry.